Posts from September 2017

Acts 15:22 – 35 The Gentiles are offered to be a part of the church. The religious regulations about worship, temple service, and circumcision had passed away, and now those who wanted to follow Jesus could without any restrictions. The Apostles were clear in their decision they were not going to add anything to the gospel because it would not be right, but they did…

Acts 15:1-21 Haters are going to hate. No, seriously. Even when you’re doing what God has called you to do, making the most of the opportunities he has given you, risking your life to share the gospel, and rejoicing as God blesses this, haters will hate. Word got around to some fringe groups of people within the church that Gentiles were being saved and…

Acts 14:24- 28 Paul and Barnabas headed back to Antioch. This was huge for them. They knew people there. They loved that church. They had been on a crazy journey but they were excited to get together with the church they loved. Everyone got together. They broke bread together. They laughed, told old stories. Paul, I’m sure, met some of the new…

Acts 14:20-23 Paul and Barnabas found a place in Lystra and once they were there, they started preaching the gospel. We don’t know exactly how long they had been there, but they had started teaching and preaching. Things had not boiled over in that city like the others, but as Paul and Barnabas started to build a reputation for themselves, the leaders and people…

Acts 14:1-19 When God calls you to do something, you do it. Even when it hurts. Right after they got kicked out of one city they moved on and did it again. But guess what…… it happened again. A number of people believe but a number of them were very angry. So, the two did it all over again. They preached. People followed Jesus. They raised up leaders. The…

Acts 13: 13-52 We see a familiar story here. Paul and Barnabas start a beautiful church in this city. They preach to Gentiles, people believe and decide to follow Jesus. The church was growing, they led people and taught people and trained leaders. Things were going great. As usual, when things were up, the enemy came and tried to ruin it. Paul, Barnabas,…

Acts 13:4-12 Among an awesome story about God stopping a false teacher and leading others to himself by miraculous work, we see that Saul is now referred to as Paul. The name change is rumored for many reasons but the most simple one is that now that Paul was in Gentile territory he stopped using his Jewish name and started using his Roman one. This was a…

Acts 13:1-3 It’s hard to see people go. When God works in a way that someone we love moves on, it hurts. Sometimes a job takes them away, sometimes it’s family. Sometimes God just works in their hearts to do something different. It’s easy to get angry about moments like this and turn selfish. Paul and Barnabas were feeling God tug at them to go start…

Acts 12: 20-25 Herod was a terrible man. He went against God and refused to repent after hearing the gospel on many occasions. He had killed members of the church. Persecuted believers relentlessly. So we see here that God decided to stop his persecution and attacks on the church. He ends Herod’s life. Now some people believe it was a literal drop-dead event. Others…

Acts 12:6-19 Peter was in Prison and he was facing death. This is the point when it would probably be okay to get a little disappointed. It might be okay to think it was over. In a Roman prison, multiple guards on duty to watch your every move. No way to escape. On trial under the judgment of a man known for killing believers just for believing. This looks like the…

Acts 12:1-5 There is another great moment in the church. People have been spreading the gospel and a new church has sprung up. This church is healthy and caring for people and for the leaders of the church. This is one of those mountain top moments for those involved in the new movement of God. However, as we’ve seen so often, the world reminds us that we don’t belong…

Acts 11:19-30 The church had been spread across the nations due to persecution. They had found their way to Antioch and started teaching and preaching there. There were many who heard of Jesus and believed. The Church was growing and this particular gathering was one that was seeing such great life change. The church sent leaders there to help and lead and encourage them.…